In-Season Tournament roundup: Celtics, Kings advance as quarterfinal matchups set

The group-play stage of the inaugural In-Season Tournament culminated Tuesday with eight matchups as six teams looked to join the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers in the knockout round. For an explanation of how the tourney works, tap here.

To see what happened during last Friday’s action, tap here.

Tuesday’s results

• Bulls 97-124 Celtics (Recap)
• Raptors 103-115 Nets (Recap)
• Hornets 91-115 Knicks (Recap)
• Hawks 108-128 Cavaliers (Recap)
• Bucks 131-124 Heat (Recap)
• Thunder 103-106 Timberwolves (Recap)
• Rockets 115-121 Mavericks (Recap)
• Warriors 123-124 Kings (Recap)

What’s next?

The quarterfinals are set after the Celtics, Knicks, Bucks, Pelicans, Suns, and Kings booked their respective spots for the next stage. Tap here for the final group standings.

Quarterfinals:

• QF 1 (Dec. 4, 7:30 PM ET): Celtics at Pacers
• QF 2 (Dec. 4, 10 PM ET): Pelicans at Kings
• QF 3 (Dec. 5, 7:30 PM ET): Knicks at Bucks
• QF 4 (Dec. 5, 10 PM ET): Suns at Lakers

Semifinals:

• Dec. 7: East semifinal
• Dec. 7: West semifinal

Championship (at Las Vegas)

• Dec. 9: East winner vs. West winner

Top performers

Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers): Though the Cavaliers fell short of the quarterfinals, it wasn’t for lack of trying, especially from Mitchell. The All-Star guard went nuclear against the Hawks to the tune of 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists on crystal-clear 14-of-25 shooting from the field. He even added three steals and a block for good measure.

Julius Randle (New York Knicks): Though Mitchell’s effort came up short, Randle’s dominant play was enough to vault the Knicks into the East’s wild-card spot with a big win over the Hornets. The forward led the game in scoring with 25 points, but his biggest contribution was on the glass, tallying 20 rebounds, the fifth-most by any player this season.

Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks): While his Mavericks failed to advance, Doncic took home the crown for the highest-scoring output of the night. Doncic went off for 41 points in a win over the Houston Rockets, nearly securing a triple-double with nine rebounds and nine assists. He’s the first player in over 40 seasons to put up those numbers while having zero turnovers, according to StatMuse.

Highlight of the night

Leading the slate in points wasn’t enough for Doncic on Tuesday, as the guard’s flare for the dramatic led to this funky hook on a scrambled play to seal the victory late in the fourth quarter.

Tweet of the night

It was certainly a wild night of basketball, with point differentials and clinching scenarios galore. There was perhaps no greater representation of this than the Celtics bringing their starters back in up huge in the fourth quarter against the Bulls and deploying a strategy normally used in tight games.

Well, maybe not everyone was on board with that philosophy. See you in the quarterfinals, Jaylen!

Stat of the night

Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry will always be linked as part of the Warriors’ dynasty, and now they both rank in the top three father-son scoring duos in NBA history.